No Peace of Mind on Pandemic Yet

Health Minister Bahram Einollahi warned on Sunday that the ministry is not at ease with the coronavirus and a possible sixth peak as signs point to an imminent resurgence of the deadly virus. 
“We need to remain on full alert. Hopefully, with mass vaccination in future months, we’ll be in better circumstances,” Einollahi was quoted as saying by ISNA. 
Head of the Health Ministry’s committee for vaccination studies, Masoud Younesian, also expressed concern over the reemergence of the contagion in two weeks. 
“It seems that the disease’s downward trend has slowed or even stopped,” Younesian said, reminding that the fifth wave replaced the fourth even before it ended. 
Iran is still tackling the fifth wave of the outbreak, according to Younesian. At its peak, the disease infected 50,000 people in one single day and killed over 700 patients. 
“In recent days, the virus has not been on the decline as it was before,” he pointed out. “On the other hand, the number of fully vaccinated people is not that significant yet.”
Risk of infection falls two weeks after the second dose is received. Only 24 million people have been fully vaccinated so far and 48 million have been given a first shot. 
In the past 24 hours, the Health Ministry gave out 1.28 million vaccine doses, taking the total number of shots administered to 72.6 million. 
Iran has been giving 10 million vaccine doses every week for the past three weeks since the Iranian Red Crescent Society increased its import of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine. 
The organization has brought in some 76.3 million doses since the start of the national vaccination campaign. 
Younesian warned that the reopening of schools and universities needs to be phased and gradual, so that officials can monitor the impact of in-person activities on transmission rates.